Question from Pocahontas, Illinois, USA:

My four year old is overweight, about 53-55 pounds. One month ago, we took him to the doctor thinking he had some sort of infection (frequent urination, etc). Basically, now I know he had every symptom for diabetes except weight loss. The doctor did a finger prick test and found his blood sugar to be 90mg/dl [5 mmol/L]. She called it a “borderline diabetes” and recommended a change in his diet. We have done this — we’ve removed all sweets (concentrated sugars), are trying to watch carbohydrates, and are making a better effort to encourage fruits and vegetables. One month after the initial test, his fasting blood sugar was 92 mg/dl [5.1 mmol/L]. We are going for a hemoglobin A1c test. The more I read about this disease I keep seeing 70 to 120 mg/dl [3.9 to 6.7 mmol/L] or so as the “normal” range. So, in your judgement is a 90 mg/dl [5.0 mmol/L] or 92 mg/dl [5.1 mmol/L] blood sugar “borderline?” I should also add that there is strong family history of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes in the family. I have been really distraught over all of this, but the more I read the more I question it. Does his blood sugar level combined with his weight increase his risk for developing the disease? What is “borderline” diabetes?